New Jersey’s public schools will have to provide students with disabilities access to athletic programs under a bill Governor Christie signed into law Thursday.

TYSON TRISH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Members of Team New Jersey Special Olympics soccer team pose in front of the Governor's podium after Governor Christie signed the bill.

The bill signing was held as New Jersey is hosting teams from across the country for the Special Olympics 2014 USA Games.

Tyson Trish / staff photographer

Governor Christie signs the bill backed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, left, Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver, next to Sweeney, and members of Team New Jersey Special Olympics soccer team.

“Everybody should have the opportunity to experience the things that I experienced as a young man in this state and that my sons and daughters are experiencing in this state,” Christie said after signing the bills surrounded by Special Olympics soccer players from Somerset County.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, whose daughter has Down syndrome, sponsored the bill and stood alongside Christie for the signing. Sweeney said he hopes the new law will serve as a model for other states.

“It’s never about winning or losing, it’s about opportunities,” said Sweeney, D-Gloucester. “Just because someone has a disability doesn’t mean they don’t have value and that’s the focus and the purpose here. Every single person has value.”

The bill signing came as Christie, a Republican, and Sweeney, who have worked together on a number of issues are at odds over the proposed state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Christie has proposed slashing the state’s pension payment while Senate Democrats want to restore the payment and instead increase the taxes on corporations and individuals earning more than $500,000. Christie has said he will not approve tax hikes.

There was no mention of the budget negotiations during the brief event, which also featured a Special Olympics unified soccer team from Montgomery Township, which performed a team chant before Christie and Sweeney entered the room.

The new law builds on U.S. Department of Education guidelines issued last year aimed at better including students with disabilities in athletics.

While the bill requires school districts to ensure that special needs students are given an equal opportunity to participate in existing physical education and athletics programs, it does allow for programs to be modified to ensure the safety of the students. In the event that students with disabilities cannot be included in an existing program, the school district must make an effort to provide that student with a reasonable alternative.

Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, which his mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded, said New Jersey is setting a national example.

“Our country, we talk about being so divided, but here we are we may be divided but we’re also united and we may have a lot of partisanship but we’re not paralyzed,” Shriver said. “We can get things done in the state of New Jersey. We’ve made history today by celebrating the athletes, but challenging the nation to embrace the idea of social inclusion as a foundational principle of this nation.”

Marc Edenzon, president of Special Olympics New Jersey, said just as the soccer team in the room had changed the community of Montgomery, the new law will have a positive impact on the state and his own family. His son Zachary has Down syndrome.

“The impact this will have will be on tens of thousands of citizens who will benefit and will impact millions throughout the state to welcome people with disabilities into our community as equals,” he said. “And if it’s successful, which we know it will be, my son Zachary will benefit because he will be looked at just as everybody else in the community.”

Governor Christie signs the bill backed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, left, Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver, next to Sweeney, and members of Team New Jersey Special Olympics soccer team.

“Everybody should have the opportunity to experience the things that I experienced as a young man in this state and that my sons and daughters are experiencing in this state,” Christie said after signing the bills surrounded by Special Olympics soccer players from Somerset County.

“Our country, we talk about being so divided, but here we are. We may be divided, but we’re also united and we may have a lot of partisanship, but we’re not paralyzed.”

- TIM SHRIVER, CHAIRMAN OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS, WHICH WAS FOUNDED BY HIS MOTHER, EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, whose daughter has Down syndrome, sponsored the bill and stood alongside Christie for the signing. Sweeney said he hopes the new law will serve as a model for other states.

“It’s never about winning or losing, it’s about opportunities,” said Sweeney, D-Gloucester. “Just because someone has a disability doesn’t mean they don’t have value and that’s the focus and the purpose here. Every single person has value.”

The bill signing came as Christie, a Republican, and Sweeney, who have worked together on a number of issues are at odds over the proposed state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Christie has proposed slashing the state’s pension payment while Senate Democrats want to restore the payment and instead increase the taxes on corporations and individuals earning more than $500,000. Christie has said he will not approve tax hikes.

There was no mention of the budget negotiations during the brief event, which also featured a Special Olympics unified soccer team from Montgomery Township, which performed a team chant before Christie and Sweeney entered the room.

The new law builds on U.S. Department of Education guidelines issued last year aimed at better including students with disabilities in athletics.

While the bill requires school districts to ensure that special needs students are given an equal opportunity to participate in existing physical education and athletics programs, it does allow for programs to be modified to ensure the safety of the students. In the event that students with disabilities cannot be included in an existing program, the school district must make an effort to provide that student with a reasonable alternative.

Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, which his mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded, said New Jersey is setting a national example.

“Our country, we talk about being so divided, but here we are we may be divided but we’re also united and we may have a lot of partisanship but we’re not paralyzed,” Shriver said. “We can get things done in the state of New Jersey. We’ve made history today by celebrating the athletes, but challenging the nation to embrace the idea of social inclusion as a foundational principle of this nation.”

Marc Edenzon, president of Special Olympics New Jersey, said just as the soccer team in the room had changed the community of Montgomery, the new law will have a positive impact on the state and his own family. His son Zachary has Down syndrome.

“The impact this will have will be on tens of thousands of citizens who will benefit and will impact millions throughout the state to welcome people with disabilities into our community as equals,” he said. “And if it’s successful, which we know it will be, my son Zachary will benefit because he will be looked at just as everybody else in the community.”